Series 1 - The Gay Slayer

The Gay Slayer

Early one evening in 1993, loner and life-long under-achiever Colin Ireland declared a startling New Year's resolution to a shocked newspaper journalist. He was going to become a serial killer.

Over the next six months, Ireland was as good as his word and went on to lure five gay men to their deaths. As the media whipped up a frenzy of fear proclaiming that a "Gay Slayer" was loose on the streets of London, Ireland continued to taunt those detectives trying to catch him.

Eventually though, Ireland found himself backed into a corner as police closed the net around him. What followed was captured in a mesmerising open and honest video recording of Colin Ireland confessing to all five murders.

As Colin went about fulfilling his twisted New Year resolution, was he merely seeking infamy and recognition or was there a far darker, more compelling cause for these vicious killings? Was Colin Ireland born to kill?